Hi i recently bought a 96 Toyota Camry with the 2.2l for 250$ it had new tires, radiator, starter, spark plugs, and battery. But it produces a loud knocking sound when running. I know that right there is very problematic, but it drove all the way from Florida to Colorado with the knock and not a single issue. The problem is there is a serious lack of power when taking off. Any normal person would say the knock is the cause and means the motor is blown. but it had plenty of power when it made it here to Colorado, so I personally don't think its the knock.

The person i bought it from said that his buddy had put in new spark plugs and he believes it was around then it lost the power. How reliable I took a look at the spark plug wires and they are not in good condition, do you guys think improperly gapped sparkplugs/worn wires could cause the lack in power? I will be checking the timing tomorrow if the weather will allow for it

Thanks in advance for any help

 

First thing is easy and that is to look under the hood at night to see if you see any lighting / tracing coming from those wires.

 

I'll do that when the sun goes down

I went to start it up this morning and it wouldn't start, but i realized that the fuel gauge is nearly on e, maybe the way i parked it cause what little fuel to go to one side of the tank? i should have more gas shortly

turns out today is a beautiful day (i better knock on wood)

but its been getting below 0 up here in the evenings and i have school/work i walk to, it would be nice to get it running for just around town (I don't think it would like highway speeds right now )

i eventually plan on getting a new motor for it because i really like this car but my budget wont allow for anything like that right now (I hope the knock is something like a valve or lifter, but best not keep my hopes up)

i checked the oil, it is way cleaner than i expected and at a good level, tranny was the same

will a rod bearing blow and not cause any mechanical issues? because if it is the a rod knock im trying to figure out how its been doing so well without any issues till now

 

Use a section of hose as a stethoscope to narrow down the engine noise.

If the issue is a rod bearing. Removing the spark plug wire to cylinder having the problem should reduce the knock.

A rod bearing can damage the crankshaft from the pounding. If bad enough the lower end of the rod can break.

 

I haven't been able to get the car to start in the past 2 days. I noticed while going over the motor that not only is one of the 2 o2 senors broken(the top one, which is what i believe to be the second o2 sensor), the temp sensor and whatever sensor is right next to it are both broken (all three sensors the wires are broken off) could this be the reason for the lack of power, and now it not starting??

also does anyone know what that second sensor next to the engine coolant temp sensor is??

i put more gas in it last night thinking it wouldn't start because it was out of gas, then I thought the fuel pump died, but a little research revealed that unlike every ford I have owned, the fuel pump doesn't kick on until the motor is cranked/running

 

The white spots are from it freezing last night. Right now it is currently 19 degrees here

 

Also there is an extra plug in that bundle that isnt going to anything, but then i saw this plug looking thing, what is it exactly, anyone know?

sorry for all the questions haha and I don't know if this forum has policy on double posting and if so i appologize

 

That is your oil pressure sender (in red). I suspect your oil pressure light is on all the time now.

You have a bit of research in front of you and probably a trip to the junk yard. Some of those wires that are not connected will cause some issues. I forgot what each of the other connections do but they are obviously there for a reason.

Check for engine codes as you work through it so you can see when they go away. You probably should get a Haynes manual or subscribe to some service for a few days to get the information you need.

 

oil light hasn't shown actually, which is a plus, I've been watching the oil anyways

one of the sensors is an ect (engine coolant temp sensor) and is a huge problem. it tells the motor if its hot or cold, and right now the ecm thinks the engine is running really hot, even when its frozen haha,

i found out the car will fire right up when it is warm. so im guessing that sensor is like an automated choke for the engine, and is causing the vehicle to run really lean

good news is I'm probably making 40+ miles to the gallon

the second sensor is a temp sender sensor and just tells the dash gauges what temp the motor is, so it doesn't mean much mechanically

the large one on the exhaust is an oxygen sensor and combined with the dead ect sensor is probably(hopefully) causing the vehicle to run like it was made in the 1800's.

its that fourth little sensor (the one in the red circle) that I couldn't find anything online about, if its oil pressure then I'm not worried, even tho it has only one wire going to it

I have done ALOT of research today, but please if I'm wrong on any of this correct me. The way it sounds, I just need to replace four sensors to fix this power issue, to bad the o2 sensor is 100$+

my ability to make money right now has nearly halted but I'm working on replacing the sensors this week

hopefully I will soon have an answer as to whether this is the cause

If anyone has any ideas let me know

 

"its that fourth little sensor (the one in the red circle) that I couldn't find anything online about, if its oil pressure then I'm not worried, even tho it has only one wire going to it"

Yes, you are correct. One wire goes to that one and it is for your oil pressure.